Joint for metal wheel-rims



(No Model.) v

J. PRIE'DENSTEIN. JOINT PORMETAL WHEEL RIMS.

. No. 5-17,610.-- Patented Apr. 3, 1894.

Inventor.

7 iv. mum.

W itne sses Attorney; I 4

UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

A JOSEPH FRIEDENSTEIN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

JOINT FOR METAL WHEEL-RIMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 517,619, dated April 3,1894. Application filed January 4, 1824. $erial1l'o. 495,602- (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH FRIEDENSTEIN, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Joints orSplices for Metal Wheel-Rims; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and usethe same.-

This invention relates to that class of metal rims or fellies for wheelswhich are formed from a length of sheet or strap metal, the ends ofwhich are united to form a hoop. It has been the custom to constructsuch rims of a length or ribband of steel. which has been passedthroughshaping rolls or otherwise manipulated to impart thereto acurve of thedesired radius, uniting the meeting ends of said shaped length orribband by brazing. This method of uniting the meeting ends of saidlength or ribband of steel to form a hoop is, however, open to theobjection that in the operation of brazing the parts of the ribbandadjacent to the brazed joint become annealed or softened by the heatofthe fire required to melt the brass, so that said parts lose thestiffness and resilience which characterizes the major part of the hoopor rim, thus causing much annoyance andexpense for the replacement ofsoft rims. Moreover, in order to impart therequisite smoothness offinish to the joint, both inside and outside, and to atford a cleansurface for the adhesion of the brass, the meeting ends of the ribbandor blank must be dressed to a taper or feather edge, which operationrequires expert hand work or the employment of accurate machinery, andis expensive.

The object of my invention is to avoid the above noted, and otherobjections incident to.

the employment of a brazed joint for rims, and this object is attainedby the employment of a specially designed joint for uniting the meetingends of the ribband or blank, said joint involving the interlocking andriveting of said meeting ends of the blank in a novel manner which willmore fully appear hereinafter.

With this object in view, the invention consists in the matters to bedescribed in detail in this specification and thus set forth in theclaims.

Inthe accompanying drawings, wherein I have for convenience, illustratedmy invention as applied to the construction of both ordinary and specialrims, Figure 1, is a perspective view of so much of a rim as is requiredto illustrate the special construction of the meeting ends thereof; saidends being shown as separated. Fig. 2, isasimilar view, showing themeeting ends of the rim united. Fig. 3, is a transverse section throughthe joint, the point at which said section is taken being indicated inFig. 2, by the dotted line 3-3. Fig. 4, is a perspective view, of aspecial rim embodying further improvements. Fig. 5, is a transversesection thereof on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

The rim A, shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, (and of which I have shown somuch as is necessary to illustrate my invention) is of a singlethickness of steel, and known as the concavo convexj flcrescent shapedor ordinary rim, but it will be understood that my improvement isapplicable to special rims, that is to say, to rims having individualcross sectional contours as in Figs. 4 and 5, to adapt them to receiveor hold special tires, and also applicable to double section or hollowrims of either ordinary or special form. I have chosen to speciallyillustrate my improvements in connection with an ordinary rim for thesole reason that, owing to the simplicity of outline of such a rim,myimprovements can be more easily and clearly portrayed in the drawingsand more readily understood by those interested in this art. The meetingends 1 and 2, of the rim blank, A, are provided with one or more slits,two being shown in the instance illustrated, marked B, O, and B C toform upon each of said ends 1 and 2, three tongues, D E and F, and D F.and F the parts being designed to interlock so that the tongues of oneend, say 1, will overlap the solid metal of the'other end 2, and viceversa, said tongues being then riveted to the solid metal of the rimwhich they so overlap. i

For readiness of assemblage, I prefer to out the slits parallel with'the edges of the rim, so that the ends 1 and 2 of the blank may bebrought together, and the tongues interlockcd by a single movement, andwithout special manipulation, but I also contemplate, in some instances,cutting the slits diagonal to the edges of the rim, so that the centraltongues E and IE will have the form of dovetail lugs, and I intend myclaims to cover such a construction. I regard the construction shown,that is to say, each end 1 and 2, of the rim A provided with threetongues, best adapted for joining the rim ends of an ordinary orcrescent shaped rim, but for special forms of rims, those having annularconvolutions forming recesses and ribs in the tire groove, or thosehaving a convex inner surface and projections or recesses in the outeror tire seating surface, the number of tongues upon each end 1 and 2,will be regulated by the transverse shape of the rim, the aim being tosecure the same degree of radial resistance at the point of junction, orpractically so, as is possessed by the rim at other points. I intend myclaims to cover a rim joint formed of interlocking riveted tongues,irrespective of the number of said tongues which may be formed on theends 1 and 2.

In carrying my invention into practical effect, the ends 1 and 2 of ablank are slitted in a machine or press which also operates to offsetsaid tongues at the base or root, in a radial direction, a distanceequal approximately to half the thickness of the rim metal, each tongueof each end, as 1, being offset in a direction opposite to that of thenext adjacent tongue of said end. In the instance illustrated, whereineach end 1, and 2, of the blank or rim is provided with three tongues,the central tongue E of the end 1, is given an offset e, while the sidetongues D and F are offset in the opposite direction. The blank or rimend 2, is oppositely arranged, so that the peripheral outline of the rimat the joint or splice is practically continuous. The tongues, wheninterlocked as described, are secured to the solid part of the adjacentend by rivets, the tongues of end 1 being secured to end 2 by rivet-s d,e, and f, and the tongues of end 2 being similarly secured to end 1 byrivets (1 ,6 and f as shown. After interlocking and riveting the tonguesas described, those which lap into the tire groove may be dressed toform a smooth continuous surface for the seating of the tire withoutimpairing the strength of the joint or splice, as said dressing removesbut a small proportion of the thickness of the side tongues of one end,1, and of the central tongue of the other end 2.

A further feature of improvement is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, havinga special reference to the seating of the air supply nozzle or nipple ofa pneumatic tire.

As ordinarily constructed, metal bicycle rims are drilled centrally atone point to permit the passage of the air supply nozzle of a It willtherefore, be understood that pneumatic tire therethrough, and as thetires are apt to creep in the rim, such action brings the air supplynozzle in forcible contact with the comparatively sharp and thin edgesof said drilled hole, frequently resulting in shearing off, or cuttingsaid nozzle and thus destroying the air tube of the tire. To obviatethis tendency I have devised a construction by which not only are theedges of the rim. hole rounded and smoothed to avoid a cutting edge, butthe walls of said hole are increased in thickness, so that should thetire creep within the rim, the air supply nozzle will abut against athick rounded edge, thus reducing to a minimum the danger of shearing.In the practical application of this part of my invention one end of therim blank, preferably that end which is to be lapped upon the innersurface of the other end of said blank, is provided with a drilled holec, said drilled hole being of somewhat greater diameter than is usual,and the other end 2 of the blank is punched, as at 6 so that a burr ewill pro ject from the hole e thus formed. This burr e is designed tofit snugly within and project through the drilled hole a in the otherend 1 of the blank, so that the projecting edges of said burr can beturned out or rivet flanged in a suitable press or dies, forming ineffect a tubular rivet, thus providing thickened walls for the hole oraperture through which the air supply nozzle of the tire passes, theedges of said walls being rounded as and by the means before explained.Aside from avoiding liability of damage to the supply nozzle, thisconstruction gives greater strength to a rim joint such as hereiubeforedescribed without adding Weight. By the described method of forming rimsall liability of settoning or drawing the temper of the metal, as inbrazing, is avoided, the result being the production of a better rim,and at a less cost. It will be apparent that a joint or splice made inaccordance with the foregoing description may be advantageously used inconstructions other than wheel rims, and I intend my invention to applywherever it may be found convenient.

What I claim is 1. The method of constructing metal rims from acontinuous ribband or blank which consists in slitting the ends of theblank to form tongues, assembling said ends so that adjacent tongues ofeach end will overlap opposite surfaces of the other end, and rivetingsaid tongues of each end to said other end, substantially as described.

2. A joint or splice for the meeting ends of metal rims or bandscomprising tongues formed in said meeting ends, the adjacent tongues ofeach end overlapping the opposite surfaces of the other end, and rivetssecuring said tongues, substantially as described.

3. Ajoint or splice for the meeting ends of metal rims or hands,comprising tongues formed on said meeting ends, the adjacent tongues ofeach end overlapping opposite sides of the solid part of the other end,and

rivets securing said tongues, substantially as,

described.

4. A joint or splice for the meeting ends 5 of metal rims or bands,comprising tongues formed on said meeting ends, the adjacent tongues ofeach end overlapping opposite surfaces of the other. end, said lappedends being provided with holes or apertures the edges of

